Today, on the Feast of Pentecost, I, though unworthy, celebrated my 10th anniversary as an Orthodox priest. It's been a rough road. Moments of glory mixed with suffering -- all of which were complicated by my own sinfulness and shortcomings -- have been my helpers. I thank God.I regret the missed opportunities brought about by my own shortsightedness. I regret the mistakes that I've made due to people-pleasing, impatience, lack of discretion, selfishness and carelessness. As any parent … [Read more...]

[The following article appeared in The Word magazine, May 2004 (Vol.48;No.5).] Students of the art of comedy know that for humour to work it must bear some semblance to the truth. One truth about humour: it’s usually at someone’s expense. Something you find funny, someone else finds offensive, and vice versa. The subject of sex is like that. Though not entirely humourous, it’s possible for any discussion of sex to be offensive. Ours is an overly-sexed, overly sensitive, age. And all of us … [Read more...]

I once heard a priest, speaking on some of the nuttiness within Orthodox Convert circles, claim: "Shine a light bright enough and even the bugs will come." For me, this was true of what I now know as Gnosticism. Some of us, through no special intent or talent, seem to have a built in Decoder Ring for the esoteric and metaphysical sciences. This is not to say, at least in my case, that there is always understanding nor just mere attraction. Rather, it's part of the thing that is the thing. … [Read more...]